A Lost Dawn
by kouhadou
Summary: AU, MR Era. To gain the ‘Emperor’ title, all of current Emperor’s sons, Ministries’ sons, and some of nobles’ sons along with their respective teams must compete with each other. Throw little Sena into Hiruma’s team in that battle... and chaos is erupted.


Dear all my readers, I know I've abandoned my story way too long. Actually, the reasons of my terribly late updates are lame: random attack of plot bunnies, fourth stadium of author's block, and endless homework or projects from my cruel lecturers. However, after looking back to your reviews, alerts, and PMs, I can't help but think: Hey kouhadou, although your grammar is suck and the plotline is weird, still, there are some faithful readers out there who wait forever for the next chapter! So yep, I decided to start writing again!

This edited chapter is dedicated to my beta-readers ( and Samantha, thank you! ^-^) and faithful readers… Enjoy!!

**Chapter One: A Rising Dawn**

Birds flew from the roof of the room as Kobayakawa Mihae went into labour. Shivering with sweat the woman let out a whimper cry, her throat already too swollen from screaming. "One more push, Mihae-dono." The head maid, also a skilful medic, snapped, casting a dark look at her husband. Kobayakawa Shiyuma didn't look up to receive the look. His face was sheet white and he was almost sweating as hard as his wife.

Unable to hold himself back he bolted forward falling to his knees beside the bed.

"You can do it, honey." He breathed heavily and she gave him a dark look that wasn't customary for her usually soft expression. It was understandable though, whose smart idea had it been to not use the painkillers? Her anger was forgotten though as a fiery burning flashed through her body.

"Aargh...!!!" She screamed in pain. "Shiyuma!! I'll get you after this! Give me some painkillers!"

"Mi... Mihae... I just want our child to born in natural way... And the medics said that the painkillers are not as effective as you thought."

"Natural my ass! This is hurt! Aargh...!!"

"Mihae-dono, that's not the proper way of talking as a Kobayakawa," The medic apprentice, a woman in her early thirties whose family has been working in Kobayakawa household for a century, lightly scolded her. "Keep trying; we can see the baby's head now... It's come!"

"Quickly girl, clean its mouth, prepare to cut the cord." The head nurse muttered and her apprentice followed the instruction without haste.

Shiyuma froze staring into his wife's fearful eyes, she was still blind from pain but was able to comprehend a simple fact that sent both husband and wife in a spiral of fear. Where were the cries? The cries of a healthy newborn! That would confirm that the poor thing wasn't mute, deaf, or, or…

Mihae stared intently into her husband's eye until he nodded in agreement; they would love the child, no matter.

Then a loud wail filled the room and Mihae slipped down in the bed sobbing from relief.

"Shy little thing, never seen a child so resistant to complain. None the less, Shiyuma-dono you have yourself a healthy young son." The nurse announced and the young apprentice gently handed the child to his father.

"A son. Thank all, a son." Mihae muttered, her eyelids flittering.

"Now none of that ma'am, we must move you to a clean futon right away. Girl, where have you ran off to? Ah, there you are. Now, go fetch the futon from the next room." The apprentice scampered off, smiling to herself at the sight of Shiyuma glazing lovingly in the swollen eyes of the newborn.

"Thank you, thank you." Shiyuma muttered, half to his wife, half to the medic who was tending to her. Being a man, this was his first time seeing a child of only a day old. It wasn't as he would have imagined, the skin was a fire red and it only had a small patch of brown hair on its scalp. Already the child had stopped crying and kept its eyes shut tight.

"Please let me hold my baby." Mihae moaned and the medic gently took the baby away from Shiyuma to place it into her hands; scoffing lightly when she had to show the young lady how to hold the child correctly.

After a while, the apprentice returned to the room with a clean futon, breathing heavily.

"What's his name?" She asked, ignoring the sharp look her teacher gave her. Apparently she wasn't supposed to talk, but couldn't help to hold back her curiosity.

Mihae blinked and gave Shiyuma a blank look.

"Um, I guess we could name him after your grandfather or your father."

"Hajime and Kanzaki?! No, it would be a curse, considering the way they pasted – may their soul live forever – how about your father?" He offered, after all he liked him like a second father and in some circumstances, more than his own father.

"Hiroaki?" Mihae tested the name curiously and the baby sniffled in her arms. "Um... I don't think so. They don't share any similar traits."

The apprentice who is too chatty for her own good scrunched her nose. "If it's not too bold of me Mihae-dono, those names are too manly for him."

The head medic froze in shook, oh how she would beat the foolish girl later! The new parents though laughing in light amusement, they were still too shocked.

"Why do you think so, hm?" Mihae asked softly.

"As a medic, I've watched a hundred births then started learning to identify whether the baby will grow up as a tall, muscular man or not. Based on your baby's and importantly, your trance, he will not grow up as a tall or muscular man, but rather maybe a short and feminine man with lithe body. That's just a quick assumption tough."

Although hesitantly, the head medic nodded, admitting that his apprentice's answer was true.

"Now what would your name be?" Shiyuma asked and the girl smiled, realizing in the back of her mind that her teacher was probably planning murder.

"Sena." She said remembering to curtsy at the last moment.

Mihae looked down at her son curiously and repeated the name.

"Sena," the baby opened his brown eyes then blinked cutely. "Sena, how lovely. Don't you agree Shiyuma-kun?" She asked and he smiled; realizing by the glint in her eye that the decision was made.

He bowed down and stroked the soft downy of the child's hair. "Your name is to be Kobayakawa Sena, my son, and a great man you shall be."

In this story, Kobayakawa family is recorded in Japan's noble families list as third class noble family. The member of Kobayakawa family who has entered adulthood will work as Emperor Official in the Palace, mainly as accounting official. However, maybe in this time Sena will become an exception.

**Next Chapter: Bullied Dawn **(an encounter with Ha-ha brothers...)


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